Oh my, I actually managed to get a chapter out in a timely fashion! Can I keep it up for the next chapter? I honestly have no idea but I'll do my best! As always, please review. They really do make my day and inspire me to keep going.

xx-
Rabbit

Spock awoke with a start to the sound of frantic yelling.

"You lost him?" Seela screeched. There were sounds of various metal tables being overturned in her blind rage.

"He was perfectly secured," the doctor responded icily. "He is near death. The infection is deep in his bones by now. He won't last long, even if he is free from his restraints. If anything, he is hurrying towards his death."

"Oh, yes, yes, and now all is okay! You go tell Admiral that we lost prisoner! He will be kind to you about it, I am sure!"

"Oh, would you please be quiet, Seela. Your voice is positively grating when you throw these fits of yours." A slap resounded through the room.

"Do not tell me to be quiet," Seela hissed. "You may be doctor, but I am warrior, and I am leader of this group. You are to be obeying me. Not other way round. Find your dying toy, doctor, or it will be your body on table next." A door slammed as Seela presumably stormed out. Spock breathed a shuddering sigh of relief that neither of his captors had thought to check the vent, and the mess that Seela had made would likely hide the overturned boxes from his climb.

"Quite the clever plaything," the doctor mumbled to himself as he too left the room. Spock began slowly crawling, agonizingly, through the vents. He knew he had to find a communications room if he wanted to stand any chance at all at saving his friends.

"How much longer?" Jim asked when he jolted awake from the fitful sleep he had fallen into in the captain's chair. He hissed a string of expletives under his breath when the crick in his neck made itself abundantly clear from his awkward sleeping position.

"Whew," Bones whistled. "Your kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"No, but if you don't shut up I'll plant one on you, you smug bastard," Jim replied with a glare.

"About two days, Sir," Sulu replied. "Although… asking me over and over won't make the ship go any faster, you know. This ship is rough. I'm terrified we're pushing it too much as is." Bones knelt down in front of Jim, concern evident on his worn features.

"You're acting off, Jim. What's going on? And don't lie to me," he commanded. Alina nodded in gentle threat from behind Bones. He knew lying was futile. Jim glanced at him for a moment before his shoulders fell.

"I keep having this nightmare. Same one every damn time I sleep. I keep hearing Spock's voice. He's telling me to stay away and that there's only death where we're going. It's really bothering me."

"You're just stressed. I'll give you something to make you sleep more deeply. That should fix the nightmares," Bones replied.

"No, I don't want them to stop. I feel like they're important somehow. Maybe I'm going crazy."

"That's sleep deprivation for you."

"I guess," Jim mumbled. "What do you think, Alina?" Alina stared blankly at the two men who now looked expectantly at her.

"I don't think anything is ever as simple as it seems," she replied cryptically, before turning and heading into the sleeping quarters. The quarters were empty, and Alina had a feeling Uhura was with Scotty off in the bowels of the ship.

"You seem a little high strung," came Bones's gruff voice from the door. Alina turned, carding her hands through her hair. She had heard his thoughts before he even arrived, of course, but she found herself startled nonetheless. She supposed her own thoughts were loud enough that her mind had ignored those of her now-lover.

"Picked up on that, did you?" she said with a soft smile, lacking in humor but genuine regardless. Bones shrugged before shuffling over to the wall and punching in commands. The door to the quarters closed and a slow, gentle song began to play.

"Oh, Leonard. You are so corny," Alina said. She couldn't help smile a bit wider at his antics.

"Be quiet and dance with me. Girls like dancing. But fair warning – I might break your toes," Bones replied, pulling Alina against him by the small of her back. She allowed him to take her right hand, her left finding its place on his shoulder. True to his word, Bones did indeed step on her toes a good few times, but if she felt it, she gave no indication.

"You're better at this than I thought you'd be," Alina whispered, her head now resting against his chest.

"You're exactly as good as I thought you'd be. That being very good," Bones replied.

"My people love dancing. So naturally I wanted to learn all the human dances too. I used to suck at this. Lucky for my dance partners I don't weigh much, so no toes were broken." They danced in comfortable quiet for another few moments before bones spoke up again.

"He loves him, doesn't he? Jim, I mean."

"Yes," Alina replied.

"Like, he really loves him? Not just some crush? He's my best friend, but I don't want him to hurt Spock like he hurt all the girls at the academy. I gotta admit – the damn hobgoblin's managed to get under my skin." Alina smiled.

"It's not a crush. Jim loves him with everything he's got."

"Wow," Bones said. "I guess I didn't realize Jim would feel that way about anyone for… well, ever."

"He feels much more deeply than you think. The two of you are pretty similar in that regard."

"Hey. I'm not near the player Jim is," Bones bristled, but there was no anger in his voice. Alina smiled and kissed him.

"That's definitely true. Now, let's get back to the player-who-isn't-a-player-anymore," Alina replied. She began to walk towards the door, but Bones pulled her gently back against him. Brown eyes searched the jade of Alina's, and he felt a contentment he hadn't felt in years.

"I have never in all my life been so glad to have met someone," he said. Alina smiled again, but it was that same smile tinged with sadness he had seen her give him in Jim's apartment. His conscious self could not place the sadness, but he felt his heart ache in response.

"Alina?" he asked.

"Don't worry," she replied, hearing the flurry of confused thoughts rushing though Bones's brain. "I'm so glad I met you too." Her response was enough to quiet the concussive thoughts quickly spiraling into self-deprecation that Bones was silently careening towards. With a kiss to close their conversation, Alina led Bones out of the sleeping quarters. He made his way to the replicator and dialed up food for Jim. The rest of the crew was well enough to take care of their own bodily needs, but Bones knew that Jim would rather starve than put any mental effort into anything apart from panicking about his first officer.

"Eat," Bones commanded, handing Jim a bowl of Thai curried chicken and rice.

"I'm not hungry," Jim said, looking up at bones from the captain's chair.

"Bullshit," Bones replied, leaning threateningly over Jim. "CMO orders override even the Captain's, Jim. You need to eat."

"We aren't on duty," Jim replied curtly.

"No, we aren't. But how the hell are you going to protect Spock and potentially fight for him if you don't have an ounce of energy from starving yourself?" Jim looked away, knowing his best friend was correct. With the attitude of a scolded child, Jim took the food and slowly began to eat it.

"Stop pouting," Alina said. "We're only forcing you to do this so you can have your strength back. I have a feeling we'll need it." Jim nodded, a surge of fear coursing though his veins.

"Thanks for keeping me company, lassy," Scotty told Uhura as he buzzed about the complex machinery of the ship.

"You're welcome. It helps me too. Keeps me from thinking about what's going on," Uhura replied.

"Why do ye think I'm an engineer? There's no way Ah could manage me'self unless I had all this to keep me occupied," Scotty replied, making Uhura smile despite herself. Her talk with Alina quickly sobered here.

"Scotty… I need to talk to you," she said quietly, a not-so-little part of her hoping he wouldn't hear her over the churning of metal and electronics.

"Aye, of course. About what?" Scotty replied, clearly nervous. Of course he heard her. Ears of a rabbit, Scotty has, Uhura thoughts.

"I don't think you've been entirely honest with me about how you feel." Scotty blanched instantly, the pale white of his face quickly replaced by a deep flush.

"Ah… well… ye see, lassy, Ah just…" but Scotty silenced as Uhura shook her head.

"I think I feel the same. Maybe. But you have to understand that I do still love Spock. I know he and I won't get back together, and if I'm honest with myself, that's for the best. I just don't want to rush into anything when I'm still so… so… well, messed up. But if you're willing to give me time, I think maybe I'd be willing to give… us… a try." Uhura leaned back against the railing of the stairs they were near and waited. Scotty's face was the picture of innocent shock, and it was charming, Uhura had to admit.

"Right then. If time is what ye need, ye can have all the time in the world, lassy. But between you and me, I hope you don't need that much time!" Uhura couldn't help but giggle and she placed a tentative kiss on Scotty's cheek.

"No, I don't think I'll need quite that much time."

Spock had managed to crawl further though the ventilation system on the ship that he was now convinced was to be his tomb. His progress was painfully slow, both physically and metaphorically, but between his involuntary pauses of fading in and out of consciousness, he maintained the desperate strength of a dying man. The vents were alternating between bone-chilling cold and scalding heat, but he barely noticed with the fever rising higher and higher in his system. He reached a vent looking into a room with multiple computers. He guessed, with not a little hope, that he was looking into a communication room. Three crewmembers were sitting at the computers chatting and drinking from mugs of steaming dark liquid. Spock's parched throat ached just at the thought of having something to drink, but he forced himself to focus on what they were saying.

"Hurry and send it," one of them, a small female said.

"I just… it makes me nervous," a male responded.

"Yeah, but Seela makes me more nervous. Fuck it. If Starfleet comes for us, just say we were coerced or something. I'll send it if you won't," the third member replied.

"Fine, fine. Read it out to me and I'll send it. I can't read Nanta's handwriting for shit. You'd think Seela'd learn to write her own shit by now."

"Captain, I am in danger. I have been taken to a small bungalow on the planet Nirentir. Please come alone. Too many people will attract too much attention. I will send my coordinates. Commander Spock out."

"Right, it's sent. Think this captain will fall for it?" the second man asked.

"Probably. No reason he wouldn't that I can see," the female said with a shrug. Spock felt his heart drop. There was no way he could overtake all three of them. In his current state, he could probably barely take on one. But Jim was going to be heading straight into a trap. Spock was flooded with despair at the hopelessness of his situation. All he could do was wait for the crewmembers to leave. He gingerly rolled onto his less-injured side with a sharp inhale of pain to rest until the room was empty. His breath came out in shuddering gasps, and he began to think seriously about his death. He knew the chances that he would die in the ventilation system of a ship far, far away from his home, his only family, and his t'hy'la were skyrocketing the longer he went without medical attention.

"Jim, please forgive me," he whispered. His bravery was beginning to fail, but he clung to whatever hope, however illogical, he could muster. Jim would do it for him. He'd be damned if he didn't return the favor.